Kritstaps Porzingis made his first appearance after his trade in Washington. The scoring big made a good impression in his first game with his new team.
The Wizards beat the Pacers 123-133 Sunday. The Latvian superstar played a big part in that, despite playing only 21 minutes.
More specifically, he finished with 25 points on 7-of-12 shooting. He also had five rebounds and two blocks to round up his debut with his new team.
It was his first game overall since Jan. 29 with him playing for the first time since the Wizards acquired him at the trade deadline.
“As soon as I got here I felt comfortable right away,” Porzingis said post-game. “People welcomed me with open arms, made me feel comfortable right away.
I got into the work right away and I’m happy to finally be out there on the floor and getting the reward of all that work. I’m just excited to be a Wizard.”
Porzingis made his mark in the clutch, when Indiana cut the lead to three late in the fourth. Porzingis threw down a one-handed alley-oop dunk putting the Wizards up 124-119.
😤 on repeat pic.twitter.com/vHb1xitOwc — Washington Wizards (@WashWizards) March 7, 2022
“Everybody was great finding me, and then Deni (Avdija) threw the lob at the end,” Porzingis said. “It was a great moment for the first game to be here in Washington, and looking forward to many more moments like that.”
Porzingis will hope to remain healthy the rest of the way. The Wizards are at 29-34 two games out of the play-in tournament. Despite starting the season strong, Washington quickly fell from grace dropping out of the playoff race.
They will need to make a run in the last part of the season to make at least the play-in tournament and have a chance at playing in the postseason.
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